Beyonder Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 My school and OSAP considers me full time but I'm only taking 2 courses (I won't get into why). Will medical schools consider me full time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamIDP Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 My school and OSAP considers me full time but I'm only taking 2 courses (I won't get into why). Will medical schools consider me full time? No. If it's 2 courses per semester, definitly no. You need 4 courses to be full-time, please correct me if im wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
souljaboy Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 If they are 2 normal courses then no. If they're 2 8 credit courses and your university goes by credits then yes for most places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyonder Posted February 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 No. If it's 2 courses per semester, definitly no. You need 4 courses to be full-time, please correct me if im wrong. My school says I'm full time because of my disability. Will medical schools still count me as part time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellorie Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 It's not about how your school considers it - each medical school you apply to will evaluate your records on your own. What you will need to do is look into applying with special consideration. Contact the school, explain (vaguely) your situation and ask them what to do. If they are willing to grant you special consideration, you could submit medical documentation supporting the fact that you cannot be in school full time. You will probably have the most luck at schools with a more holistic evaluation, but it's still going to be tricky. I am not trying to be mean here - I also have a disability and have required special consideration at times - but the purpose of the full time requirement is to ensure that you are able to complete medical school. If you are ill enough that you are only able to take two courses at a time, medical schools may wonder if you are well enough to manage the full time load that is required of a first and second year medical student. I would hope that you have had a detailed conversation with your health care team about how you would get the support you need through medical school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ameltingbanana Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 For that you'd have to call them/shoot them an email and ask. I know UofT only applies its weighting system automatically to students considered fulltime (usually 5.0 courses a semester), but they do have a form/section where you can explain why you're taking less than a full courseload and they may still apply their weighting to your GPA. You may run into some hot water for Queens' weighting and Western's system, but you should contact them and ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
souljaboy Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 My school says I'm full time because of my disability. Will medical schools still count me as part time? If you're taking slightly less than a full course load because of a disability then you can easily explain it with documentation and most places would be fine. Except you're taking less than half of a full course load, even the most lenient med schools would most likely not consider that good enough. Unless it's a one year thing and you took a normal course load every other year then it's a huge red flag and just too high of a risk that you cannot keep up with the course load. Why should they take the chance on you when there are so many other qualified candidates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 If by virtue of your disability you are unable to carry more than two courses, there is no way you can handle a rigorous full course load in med school. This would be a no brainer for all decision makers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralk Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 You're on the bad end of an unfortunate catch-22: any disability serious enough to warrant having only 2 classes per semester, as opposed to the regular 5, is likely serious enough to warrant disqualification from medical school (and the practice of medicine in general). You simply can't stretch out an MD program like you can a regular undergrad. If you can demonstrate that your disability is only temporarily causing you to take 2 classes, and that you would, with reasonable accommodations, be able to handle a full course load with success, you would have a chance. Nothing would demonstrate this better than actually taking a full course load. Definitely contact the schools you're interested in, however - some may be more lenient than others and it would give you a better idea of what you would need to do than anyone here could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 For practical considerations, you will need at least one regular year, Sept. - May, of what is considered a normal full course load for students without disabilities in order to demonstrate your capabilities of achieving academic excellence in undergraduate studies. Without this, I do believe your dream of medicine is not achievable. There is currently a med student with serious disabilities who, during part of his undergrad studies, had to take 3 courses per semester for one year. However, he demonstrated academic excellence carrying a full course load and as a result, this was not an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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